“A special agent with the Social Security Administration is suing the makers of his gun holster and 9 mm gun, alleging their defective design led the gun to fire into his thigh while he was trying to clip the holster to his belt.” Before we discuss the allegations, maybe someone can tell us why the Social security administration needs its own coterie of armed special agents.
Never mind. Moving on…
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Omaha, Shane Taylor sued Barsony Holsters and Belts LLC and Smith and Wesson.
We couldn’t locate the actual suit in a search of US District Court files, which you would think describes the specific pistol and holster involved, so we have to rely on two sketchy media reports to figure out what Agent Shane Taylor (not pictured above) alleges:
First, from journalstar.com:
(Attorney Thomas) White said Taylor was preparing to be tested on his backup weapon, a 9 mm Smith & Wesson. He took the gun out of its holster, took the safety off, chambered a round and put it back in the holster. But, as he tried to clip the holster to the waistband belt with his hand on the butt of the holstered firearm, the gun discharged, the attorney said.
He said Smith & Wesson had represented that the compact model gun Taylor owned could be safely inserted into a waistband when holstered in this holster from Barsony Holsters and Belts when it was loaded and wouldn’t engage the trigger while in it.
And from omaha.com:
Taylor said he is required to carry a firearm for work and must pass quarterly proficiency tests. On Aug. 29, 2017, he said in the lawsuit, was training at the Council Bluffs Police Department’s firing range and was supposed to practice the quick removal of a loaded backup weapon from its holster.
A 9 mm pistol “was fully seated in its holster,” Taylor said in the suit, when he attempted to insert the holster into his waistband. The gun discharged, wounding Taylor in the right thigh and causing permanent injury.
Again, just going from the admittedly light-on-detail media reports, we’d guess Agent Taylor was probably packing a Smith & Wesson M&P9 SHIELD, the model that has a frame safety. Or maybe an M&P9 Compact. And while Barsony makes a passel of IWB holsters, he probably had his stuffed into something like this one.
We’d guess the odds of a Smith & Wesson Compact or SHIELD discharging while holstered and attempting to slip it into his drawers is virtually nil. And no matter how unlikely, we’ve read a lot of firearms manuals and have never seen anything approaching a representation that “the compact model gun Taylor owned could be safely inserted into a waistband when holstered in this holster from Barsony Holsters and Belts when it was loaded.”
In short, there seems to be more here that Agent Taylor may not be mentioning in his effort to extract some cash and repair his reputation.
What’s your take?